Back in the middle of 2018, I was working +70-hour weeks at Goldman Sachs. I knew that in the next few years, I'd quit to either join a startup or build my own business, to create a real impact on society.

The big problem at that time was that I didn't know how much money would be enough to quit.

I used to live below my means and save at least 20% of my monthly income, but I figured the more asset classes I invested in, the better my chances of feeling secure if and when I ever took the leap.

So, I followed everyone’s advice.

My goal was to build wealth as quickly as possible so I could eventually have the freedom to do work I actually cared about. So I'd pour money into crypto, research alternative investments, and diversify across a dozen different funds - convinced that more investments meant more security.

Once I clicked "buy," I felt accomplished for taking action to grow my wealth.

And sometimes, it felt exciting. A fund’s performance would jump by 9%, and I'd see my portfolio balance climb.

I was doing exactly what every financial independence blog said to do: save aggressively, diversify, and invest the difference. In my mind, I was being making smart moves and building toward freedom.

After five years of this, I finally quit Goldman in 2023. Within weeks of leaving, I sat down one weekend and actually calculated where I stood.

My money was scattered across multiple accounts and investments. Some positions were up, many were down, and I had no clear picture of whether I was actually any closer to the retirement I wanted.

Worse, I'd spent countless hours pretending I knew what I was doing, but I still had no idea what "enough" was - how much I needed to feel confident about my future.

The most frustrating thing is that I knew something felt off after the first year. I was busy, I was investing, but I had no plan. And I just kept buying more things anyway because it felt like I was doing something.

The problem wasn't that I was lazy or undisciplined with money. In fact, I was operating the very opposite of that. I was saving consistently and investing regularly.

But when you're trying to build wealth without a clear target, it's easy to confuse activity with progress.

The growing account balance felt like validation. Having money in "the market" felt like I was building the future I wanted. And I WAS building wealth, technically. It just turns out that I was doing it in the most stressful, scattered, and inefficient way possible.

I was hustling hard, exhausting myself with research, and getting absolutely nowhere closer to actually knowing if I'd be okay.

What I built instead

One evening, I opened a spreadsheet and decided to approach my financial future the same way I'd approach a major project at work - with quantifiable objectives and deadlines.

So, I worked backward from what I actually wanted: the freedom to retire comfortably and do meaningful work without financial stress.

I figured that conservatively, I'd spend €4,000 a month should I choose to retire in Spain by 60. Using the 4% rule, I'd need roughly €2 million invested to take care of my retirement. But I didn't want to stress about hitting that exact number immediately - I wanted a clear path to get there.

So I stayed put at home to cut my costs in half, and give myself a runway to figure this out properly.

Once I had that mapped out, I could see exactly what I needed to do. But there were still critical questions.

How should I actually be investing? What was the most profitable and efficient path? What was I currently doing that was either helping or hurting that goal? And how could I simplify everything so I wasn’t spending 10 hours a week managing investments?

When I looked at what I was actually doing against what I needed to be doing, most of it was completely counterproductive.

I was buying and selling fund-units as if I were a day-trader trying to beat the S&P 500. I had over S$10k in crypto that had dropped 40% and kept me up at night checking prices. I had three different investing accounts holding similar funds and charging me three different fees. I didn’t fully understand what I did, and spread my money across too many things - trying to optimize everything, but actually just creating complexity and stress.

So I cut everything except index funds. I removed all speculation and consolidated my spending where possible.

I took all that money and focused it on two simple low-cost index funds. Instead of being mediocre at a dozen different investment strategies, I got really, really good at one: consistent, automated, boring investing.

By year's end, I had created a six-figure portfolio using just two funds, where I understood that the historical annual average return was at least 7% per year. This meant I didn't need to spend hours on further research. I also knew past performance will never be indicative of future results, so I made sure I was investing for the long-term to give my money the best chance to compound.

More importantly, I finally had a system that would get me to my retirement goal automatically as I continued investing periodically.

That's the difference between activity and strategy. I wasn't just saving more money. I was finally investing in a way that actually moved me toward my goal.

And I've slept better than I did during those five years of scattered, anxious investing.

Making the same mistake

I have a friend who’s trying to analyse markets, research different products, and build wealth while working in Consulting.

She’s legitimately brainy. She earns an above-average income, is charismatic, and really believes in adding value in her career.

But she has no real plan. She basically just wings it with her money. She buys a few stocks here and there, puts some money towards her retirement, and keeps way too much in savings “just in case,”.

Every time we talk, I ask if she’s calculated her target number. Does she know how much she needs to retire early? Has she figured out her actual asset allocation? Does she track her net worth monthly?

Nope. She’s too busy chasing exclusive hot investment tips she never applies.

She’s so focused on finding the perfect investments that she has zero clarity on whether she’s actually making progress toward financial freedom. And because she never stops to figure out why her portfolio is up or down, or whether she’s even on track, she just keeps making random money moves and hoping it all works out.

A few months ago, out of nowhere, she had a big win. Her crypto jumped significantly in one week! Naturally, she was thrilled. Finally, her strategy was working!

I asked her what changed. What was her actual return for the year? How much closer was she to her goal?

She didn’t know. She was just happy to see green numbers.

Two months later, crypto winter arrived. She still had no idea if she was ahead or behind for the year. And now that she’d gotten excited about the wins and watched them disappear, I’m sure the emotional swing hurt twice as much.

But as of right now, she's still doing the exact same thing. No matter how many times I explain the power of simple index investing, or show her how to calculate her financial independence number, she just keeps chasing hot tips with no clear plan.

That's exactly why I started financial coaching - to be that person for high-earning professionals who are stuck in this cycle.

What I’d tell myself 5+ years ago

If I could go back and give the 2018 version of myself one piece of advice, it would be this:

Then map it out and track your progress. What’s your current net worth? What’s your savings rate? What’s your actual investment return compared to a simple index fund benchmark?

And every quarter, look at the data. Are you on track? Is your strategy actually working better than a simple one or two-fund portfolio? Are you spending more time on investment research and less time on improving your skills to earn a better income?

It’s not easy, but it’s also not complicated. The big problem is that most people skip this part entirely. They just start investing and hope wealth eventually happens. And when it doesn't happen as fast as they want, they don't stop to ask why - they just chase riskier products, getting more and more hopeless.

The people who achieve financial independence aren’t the ones with the most complex portfolios. They’re the ones who calculated their number, built a simple plan, and stayed consistent.

The bottom line

I wasted over five years and countless hours on a scattered investment strategy because I confused activity with progress. And I’m certainly not the only person to make that mistake.

My friend is wasting years of her wealth-building prime because she won’t stop to create an actual financial life plan.

And I see this pattern everywhere. People are working incredibly hard at their careers, diligently saving money, and wondering why financial freedom still feels impossibly far away. The effort isn’t the problem. The direction is.

You can grind hard for ten years and still end up unclear about when you can quit your job and do more meaningful work. Or you can stop, build a simple plan, and start investing in a way that actually gets you to your goal.

So here's my question for this week: What are you doing with your money right now that feels productive, but isn't actually moving you closer to taking the next leap?

If you're tired of being busy with your money but unclear about your progress, I work with high-earning professionals to cut through the complexity and build a clear path to financial freedom.

​Book a free 30-minute clarity call, and I'll help you figure out your actual number and whether your current approach is getting you there.

Or simply reply and tell me your biggest frustration. I read every single response.

That’s all for this week.

Sanam